800 g (28 oz) vegetables of your choice, such as potatoes, sweet potatoes, peppers, onions, cherry tomatoes, brinjals, baby marrows and so on
1 Garlic and Herb Potato Bake
3 Tbsp (45 ml) olive oil
1.3 kg (2.8 lb) chicken portions

Recipe

1. Preheat the oven to 374ºF/190°C.
2. Cut the vegetables into large chunks or wedges and arrange them in a roasting pan.
3. Sprinkle half the sachet contents over them. Drizzle with half the oil.
4. Combine remaining sachet contents with the remaining oil. Rub over the chicken portions.
5. Arrange the chicken on top of the vegetables Roast for 45 min to 1
   hour at 374ºF/190°C or until chicken is cooked.

Frozen veggies are just as tasty and rich in nutrients as fresh vegetables, sometimes even more. If frozen vegetables are not properly prepared, you lose a lot of nutritional value and more importantly, the taste.

There are a number of misconceptions about how you should cook frozen vegetables. People make a huge mistake when they thaw the vegetables. The best way is to simply cook or steam the vegetables directly from frozen until they are hot right through by using just a little bit of water or none at all.

Frozen vegetables are generally blanched in hot water or steamed to kill off any nasty bacteria. This means that some of the cooking has been done for you, so that you don’t use a lot of your time in preparing a meal.

Tips and tricks for preparing frozen veggies:

• Prepare frozen vegetables directly from frozen without thawing.
• Do not boil vegetables for long periods of time since it destroys nutrients and the taste.
• For the perfect bite, steam your frozen veggies in a covered dish in the microwave and add only a little water (not more than the bottom third of the vegetables) for a couple of minutes until hot right through. Depending on the size of your vegetables, it could take between 3 and 6 minutes.
• Fry frozen veggies in a pan with a little bit of butter until they are hot right through. Add a little crushed garlic, salt and pepper to enhance the taste.

By making these small changes to your cooking style, you can feel better knowing that soggy, limp and tasteless vegetables are a distant memory. No need to be embarrassed by your cooking again. Now you can look forward to crisp and tasty veggies that are quick and easy to prepare. No one will hide their veggies or look down when they have to eat your veggies again.

1. Soak a country ham overnight.
2. Scrub it thoroughly under running water.
3. Cover it with cold water.
4. Bring the water to a boil.
5. Simmer the ham for 18 to 20 minutes per pound.
6. Let it cool.
7. Cut the skin away.
8. Carve the top of the ham in several thin slices.
9. Cut small uniform circles from these slices.
10. Cut matching rounds of páté de foie gras.
11. Sandwich them with rounds of ham.
12. Coat these medallions with Madeira aspic and decorate each with a small circle of truffle.
13. Arrange a small dome of cooked vegetables glazed with aspic on top of the ham.
14. Arrange an overlapping ring of ham.-and-goose-liver medallions around the vegetables.
15. Edge the ring with chopped aspic mixed with chopped truffles.
16. Coat the sides of the ham and the shank bone with aspic.
17. Decorate to taste with small cutouts of carrot and truffle.
18. Cover the end of the shank bone with a paper frill.
19. Garnish the platter with small tart shells made with puff pastry or unsweetened tart pastry.
20. Fill them with cooked peas, small cooked carrots and potatoes cut in olive shapes, all chilled and glazed with aspic.
21. Cut a slice from the top of small vegetables bound with aspic.
22. Use to complete the garnish.

List of ingredients required:

• Country ham.
• Water.
• Páté de foie gras.
• Madeira aspic.
• Truffle.
• Cooked vegetables (carrots balls, peas and potato balls.)
• Ham and goose liver medallions.
• Carrots.
• Peas.
• Potatoes.
• Puff pastry or unsweetened puff pastry.